We picked up a compost bin today ready to fill with anything that we can compost.
Problem is, i thought you could put pretty much anything in there but someones told the wife that you cant ??
Basically i have loads of leaves from the tree in our garden ready to go in it but can anyone tell me what else is worth putting in there ?
Can we put any food left overs in ? grass cuttings in the summer ? sawdust from the hamster clean outs ?
Any advice would be useful but im pretty sure i wont be putting my 'own' waste in it 
Cheers
Don't put any faeces/pet waste in there if the compost is going to be used to grow food. People that use compost loos (in places where I've
been that use them) use the compost from the human toilets on trees that will be used for timber/firewood. People say don't put meat/bones in as
it will attract rats/pests etc.
I shove loads of stuff in there, if you leave things too big then they'll take longer to break down so cut bigger things up or mulch them (use a
mulcher or I just chuck the stuff on the lawn and go over it with the lawnmower a few times)
If it starts to smell of ammonia then throw in a load of cut up newspaper/sawdust to add more carbon (google compost carbon nitrogen balance or
similar) Also make sure it can drain well, I thought mine could but later realised it couldn't and it made the compost too wet.
quote:
Originally posted by Andybarbet
Any advice would be useful but im pretty sure i wont be putting my 'own' waste in it
helps get it started don't put cooked food in,
don't put in just grass - mix it in with other stuff,
airate every couple of weeks,
put it somewhere that gets the sun,
make sure it doesn't get too dry (or wet),
Expect it to take 12 months to turn into compost,
don't put twiggs in unless you want twiggs out,
in winter cover to keep the heat in,
If you put leaves in you need to be careful as some take a long time to compost (oak take a couple of years).
For lawn cuttings it should be OK. But if your lawn grass has seeds in it then you will get grass seeds out when you use it. But grass with small
levels of seeds in is absolutely fine.
Try and water it every 2 or 3 weeks with about 5 litres of water.
It really is easy to make and great for the garden.
You need to get the ratio between green and brown right.
http://www.recyclenow.com/home_composting/making_compost/getting_
right_mix.html has some info.
When I had my allotment I used to keep my grass cuttings to one side and as I added a the brown stuff I'd add some cuttings. I'd also raid
our paper shredder at work to get finely chopped paper.
Keep it warms, supply it plenty of nitrogen (urine works fine) and make sure it doesn't get too dry.
Leaves are best turned into leaf mulch rather than composting. They take longer and pure leaf mulch is great stuff especially as potting compost.
All I've been told is no meat...
human urine (male for some reason) is good stuff if you feel incliined.
Try and site the bin on open soil as opposed to slabs etc as the good bugs can get in easier and do their stuff.
Ash from log fire, chicken poo is good, vacuum contents, no bread, dairy or meats and no perennial weeds or diseaed
plants..
Mate, I can give you loads of chicken shit.... Maybe even the chickens as well!!
I feed ours with some horse manure every now and again, definately helps in breaking down lawn clippings etc, just a two or three inch layer every foot or so, realy heats it up. HTH Ray
Paper shreddings and torn up brown boxes are good for layering between grass and vegetable waste with plenty of water. Grass alone or too much of it
turns into evil smelling slime. We have a bucket with a lid in the kitchen and all the peelings and tea leaves go in it. Male urine as mentioned above
(not in the kitchen though
) and no cooked waste at all in ours. When it is healthy you will see lots of little red worms appearing in it and when it
gets warm they congregate on the underside of the lid in clumps.
Leaves are best treated separately to make leaf mould which is good for planting, wet them and put them in a mesh bin till they compress then into
black bin bags till they rot fully.
[Edited on 12/12/11 by Peteff]
We had ours on the earth and rats dug in, it seems peelings/banana skins etc are gourmet for rats, now on slabs and no problem, we put in hoover stuff, some grass cuttings, peelings and some paper, brilliant compost
quote:
Originally posted by Benzine
I shove loads of stuff in there, if you leave things too big then they'll take longer to break down so cut bigger things up or mulch them (use a mulcher or I just chuck the stuff on the lawn and go over it with the lawnmower a few times)
Don't put in tomatoes otherwise you will have tomato plants everywhere
Some great advice there thanks 
I am so going to do the sprinkle it on the garden & get the lawnmower out trick
Looks like it could be a useful task then, the wife is getting really into her gardening now & some home made compost should go down a treat.